Handheld hazardous materials detection instruments are used for detecting hazards in Chemical, Biological, Radioactive, Nuclear, and Explosive (“CBRNE”) environments. Proper interpretation of and reaction to data received on detectors is vital to life safety in a hazardous atmosphere or radioactive material contaminated area. Technology applied to the development of HazMat detectors has increased their functionality. Effective use of detection instruments in emergency conditions rests on adequate operator training. Without adequate training, first responders and others may be placed at risk when an actual incident occurs.
Emergency response agencies from all over the United States utilize grant funds to send personnel to a handful of remote training sites that specialize in certain areas of CBRNE. Those offsite training opportunities result in increased cost to cover personnel with only marginal benefit, given the limited exposure to actual hazardous materials during training. Live fire training (e.g., active burns creating simulated “immediately dangerous to life and health” (IDLH) atmosphere) in the Fire Service are used to establish vital real-life and safety decision skills in an environment that approximates the responder's real world as closely as possible. However, this same model of live training in HazMat, using actual CBRNE agents for training HazMat first responders, is dangerous, expensive, difficult to construct, and unrealistic for most, if not all, municipal fire/hazmat teams. The live agents that are used in training are typically very small amounts in a controlled environment that do not simulate actual distribution of the substance, initial contact with or training stress likely experienced in the field.
Moreover, HazMat detectors cannot safely be equipped with built-in training modes, because of the risk this would create that an operator might confuse detection of actual hazardous materials with readings from a built-in simulator function during an emergency. For this reason, it is preferable to use actual HazMat detectors for training with actual CBRNE agents. If CBRNE training agents cannot be deployed, it is preferable to use separate devices that resemble detectors closely enough to function as training equipment, but different enough to eliminate any serious risk of being confused with actual equipment during an emergency. Supplying “similar but different” equipment may pose special challenges for the design of HazMat detector simulators, raising the cost of supplying effective but safe dedicated HazMat training simulators.
Despite the advantages of offsite and live training or dedicated training equipment, the high cost of offsite training, live training, or dedicated HazMat training equipment may undesirably constrain the number of people who can be trained. A need therefore exists to train front line responders with realistic and real-time simulations using their detection devices or economical dedicated simulators, while keeping the cost of training equipment and personnel to a minimum.